Columbus City Council members received an update on all things housing during their meeting on Tuesday night, where they heard how a foundation laid in 2024 led to some successes in 2025 and got some details of what’s to come in 2026.

Jacob Sipe, director of community development for the city, gave the update. The council chambers were filled despite an otherwise light agenda, comprised mostly of local builders.

The city’s 2024 housing study, the first commissioned in over a decade, found a need of about 300 new units per year through 2035, spread across all price-points, or 3,600 units overall. The average of units created over the past 10 years averaged about 260 units annually.

One year after the housing study’s release, the city has seen the early signs of a gain in housing momentum. In 2025 there were two groundbreakings on affordable housing projects in Thrive Alliance’s 64-workforce-unit Haw Creek Meadows and the 110-unit Flats on 14th.

Other notable housing developments in the process of coming online are the 120-unit mixed-use development at 11th and Washington streets, 52 market-rate units in front of Cummins parking garage along Washington Street, plus up to 250 new single-family homes on the westside near what will be BCSC’s new elementary school, Maple Grove. During the approval process for those, developers often referenced the housing study as supporting evidence for what they were trying to accomplish.

This year, the city’s plan commission has already given a favorable reccomendation to city council to annex and rezone property in Wayne Township as part of plans for a new Arbor Homes-developed subdivision of about 250 homes near Walesboro. The city council is set to consider finalizing that annexation and rezoning request in March.

In reviewing some of the findings of the housing study, Sipe mentioned a need for moderate increase in density across the city, including development on both undeveloped land but also within existing neighborhoods as infill. Other findings were a need for a variety of housing options, adaptable options for homeowners aging-in-place, the preservation of existing housing stock and viewing housing development through the lens of economic development.

With those ideas in mind, the city last year launched a couple of housing initiatives: Providing Affordable Construction & Transformation (PACT) and the expanded Columbus Housing Improvement Program, called CHIP 2.0.

PACT uses federal funding to incentivize small local developers to build single-family homes on infill lots at final selling prices less than $300,000.

“This was to create new, moderate homeownership opportunities with our local builders using infill or vacant and abandoned homes that needed to demolished so that they could be redeveloped as single-family homes,” Sipe told the council.

Two homes were completed through PACT in 2025 and another eight have been approved for funding through the program, which the city has invested $460,000 into through 2026. Sipe said that city has enough funding to improve another three homes through PACT.

CHIP 2.0 is an expansion of the separate CHIP program, and is aimed at supporting local homeownership for low- to moderate-income families in need of essential home improvements like roof repairs, HVAC fixes, or ADA modifications.

“It’s basically an owner-occupied rehab program,” Sipe said.

Through both iterations of CHIP, 28 rental units were substantially rehabbed in 2025.

Sipe also recounted some numbers associated with United Way of Bartholomew County’s Homelessness Initiative, which is being conducted in partnership with the city and a number of local partners.

With support from city council, Mayor Mary Ferdon’s administration helped launch the homelessness initiative in 2024, supplied by $500,000 in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding.

The $500,000 was directed towards funding four homelessness-specific initiatives, including a rental assistance and homeless response team, supportive housing, eviction prevention and a street social worker program.

United Way has worked with 328 individuals experiencing homelessness, and been able to house 136 of those and help 203 get jobs to increase their income. According to United Way, the initiative has prevented 192 people from becoming homeless.

There was $250,000 in funding earmarked for the homelessness initiative in 2025 and $250,000 available this year. What happens in 2027 remains to be seen.

“We’re demonstrating success with the initiative and hopefully we can continue to identify some funding to continue to support the outcomes that you saw today,” Sipe said.

However, permanent supportive housing is a key missing piece, Sipe told the council.

The city had a team that participated in training through the Indiana Permanent Supportive Housing Institute in 2025, put on by the state of Indiana.

The team, which included Paul Smith, assistant director of community development and Mark Stewart, president of United Way of Bartholomew County, among others, went through over 80 hours of training to graduate from the program.

The graduation of city employees and partners could make the city more competitive in application for low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC), making affordable housing projects more feasible, and broaden access to state and federal grant funding.

That team is “currently working to identify and develop a permanent supportive housing development here in the city,” Sipe said.

Sipe also talked about the site of the former county highway garage at 2452 State St., acquired by the city’s redevelopment department in 2024. He said the site is being prepped for residential development and it may be shovel-ready this year.

Director of Redevelopment Heather Pope indicated previously that the city is looking to locate affordable housing there, in part because the site may be an ideal candidate for LIHTC because of its proximity to goods and services, employers and bus stops.

The city is also partnering with Purdue through the school’s Center for High Performance Buildings (CHPB) to apply for funding through the Capital One Foundation in a nationally competitive process. The idea would be to replicate PACT through a factory built model to construct homes at a $250,000 price point with less construction expenses.

Sipe said the application is indicative of the city looking for innovative ideas to support housing development with non-taxpayer dollars.
© 2026 The Republic